


Fifteen

by araliya



Series: The Wonder Years [1]
Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-24 01:29:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13800507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/araliya/pseuds/araliya
Summary: A lot of use of the word ‘kiss’ and a lot of miscommunication.





	Fifteen

**Author's Note:**

> “I’m sorry that I got way too into playing house and accidentally kissed you passionately.”

Chris Colfer is fifteen years old. **  
**

 

Chris Colfer is fifteen years old and  _not_  playing house. Nope, absolutely not. According to Darren, it’s “immersive role play”, and a great acting exercise to properly emulate the complicated relationships of adult life.

 

In other words, they’re playing house.

 

“I cannot  _believe_  you’re making me-”

 

Darren whips his head around to glare at Chris, finger pressed firmly to his lips. “Shhh, I’m trying to see that  _woman_!”

 

His curls bounce as he pokes his nose back out of the entrance of their fort, apron caught under his knees. Chris is the Dad in this situation, with Darren as the Mom and about twenty of Hannah’s beanie babies as their kids.

 

The level of detail Darren has put into this is rather alarming- he’s even given Chris a run-down of their character profiles and everything. Chris is the 80s dad stereotype, with the monotonous voice, drab clothing, and general obliviousness, and Darren is the crazy housewife, with scarily overwhelming Petunia Dursley-esque vibes.

 

They’ve hung blankets over the gap underneath the Criss’ staircase to create their ‘house’, and there’s a plate of cookies Chris baked with his mom in case they get hungry.

 

“How dare you approach my husband in such a way!” Darren screeches out of the curtains, jabbing an accusatory finger at the imaginary person standing outside their ‘house’. He’s created a warped backstory for the both of them: Chris and Darren’s already rocky marriage has been further wobbled by the flirtatious lady next door, who’s been making rather obvious advances towards Chris.

 

Darren, worried he’s losing his husband in a battle he can’t win, is furiously trying to teach the woman exactly who’s boss, while simultaneously trying to repair his relationship with Chris.

 

It’s all very dramatic, and kind of confusing, and Chris is having a bit of a hard time keeping up.

 

At the word ‘husband’, he blushes furiously, and the nagging voice at the back of his head returns.  _You have to tell him eventually, Chris, it’s not fair. He’s your best friend._

 

Best friend. Darren is his best friend and he really can’t lose him. Which is kind of all the more reason  _not_  to tell him.

 

“...don’t you think?”

 

Darren’s staring at him expectantly, apron tied around his waist, hand on hip. The only part of him that’s truly  _Darren_  at this moment is the gleeful glitter in his eye. Chris looks at him and thinks:  _if this asshole doesn’t get on damn Broadway or something…_

 

“What do I think, darling?” he asks plainly, dropping his voice an octave to sound just a little more despondent.

 

Underneath the guise of Cheryl King, (or whatever name he’s come up with for his nightmare of a character), Chris can almost hear Darren  _whoop_.

 

“ _Janet_  here thinks that our relationship isn’t fulfilling enough,” Darren says, throwing a scornful glance over his shoulder at the imaginary Janet. “I really don’t agree.”

 

“Don’t you?” Chris queries, pushing his invisible glasses further up his nose.

 

“Oh, I really don’t. Janet doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Darren runs a finger down his arm, and Chris gulps.

 

He’s not entirely sure he’s acting anymore.

 

“We are  _perfect_ , this is  _perfect_ ,” Darren cries, throwing his hands up dramatically. “We have  _wonderful_  children, and a  _wonderful_  house, and  _wonderful_  jobs and we have  _this_ -”

 

And then Darren is kissing him and Chris has to check that his heart’s still beating.

 

At first, it’s just _lips lips lips oh god they’re so soft_ and then it’s  _why isn’t he pulling away what the fuck is going on_  and then  _wait Darren is_ kissing _him this is not a drill_.

 

At some point, Chris has melted into it- Darren’s not Cheryl anymore; he’s plain and simple and  _beautiful_  him, and he’s cradling the side of Chris’ face so gently that it kind of  _hurts_  with how sweet it is.

 

And then there’s the stomach-drop moment of _this is his first kiss_. And then  _his first kiss is Darren_.

 

Chris pulls away and the slick part of their mouths would make him blush if he weren’t already beet red. Darren stares back at him, eyes wide and lips shining ( _oh god he did that_ ) and the silence is deafening.

 

He scoots back a little further ( _and his heart doesn’t break at Darren’s crestfallen look_ ), puts a finger to his lips ( _and they’re still wet, they’re still tingling_ ), and lets out a shaky breath ( _inhale and exhale, Chris, go on, do it_ ).

 

“ _Chris_ ,” Darren breathes, and he squeezes his eyes shut, doesn’t want to hear-

 

“I’m sorry-”

 

“Don’t!” Chris cries, and it’s louder than he wanted it to be and  _damn_  his high voice, and Darren looks  _shattered_.

 

“Please,” he says quieter. “We got too into it, and it’s over, and we’ll forget about it-”

 

“I don’t want to forget this, Chris,” Darren says, and he feels like putting his hands over his ears and  _screaming_ , anything to stop what’s going to happen next.

 

Darren’s going to find out. It’s inevitable- Chris kissed him  _back_  for god’s sake.

 

Darren kissed him.

 

“You  _kissed_  me.”

 

And it’s less of an accusation and more of a realisation and then-

 

“Why did you kiss me?”

 

Darren’s olive skin is flushed rosy, high on the apples of his cheeks, and he looks so beautiful Chris could cry. “I- I couldn’t help it.”

 

“You couldn’t help it?” he repeats incredulously. “You couldn’t help just  _stealing_  my first kiss for a fucking  _game_?”

 

Darren’s eyes are wide and horrified and Chris would almost feel guilty if it weren’t _all Darren’s fault_.

 

“That was my first kiss.”

 

“I-  _Chris_ -”

 

“You’ve  _had_  yours, I had to fucking  _sit through_  watching you and Grace swap spit during Truth or Dare! I wanted it to be special, with a guy who  _meant_  it-”

 

It takes a second for it to sink in about what he just said.

 

And Darren doesn’t look surprised, not one bit, his eyes are just soft and a little sad and Chris doesn’t need his  _goddamn sympathy_ -

 

“I- I have to go-” Chris is saying, and Darren’s trying to stop him, trying to pull him back down, and Chris just jerks away from his touch-

 

“ _Goddammit, would you just listen to me for a second!_ ”

 

Darren  _never_  yells, and this is what stops Chris.

 

His voice is gentler when Chris freezes, and he reaches out tentatively to take Chris’ hand and pull him back down. “Listen to me?”

 

His heart is beating in his ears so loudly that he can hardly hear, but still, Chris says, “Okay.”

 

_(Darren’s his best friend.)_

 

“I’m sorry I kissed you like  _that_ ,” Darren begins, and Chris thinks  _of course you are, you’re not_ like _me_ , and Darren must see the panic in his eyes because he’s squeezing harder on Chris’ hand. “But I’m not sorry I kissed you.”

 

It takes a few seconds for Chris to process what he just said.

 

Darren takes a shaky breath, looks down into his lap, and then back up into Chris’ eyes. “You were just so close, and I couldn’t help it. I don’t know  _what’s_  been happening with us lately, and I thought, just for a second, that you might like me back. In that way.”

 

Chris doesn’t say anything ( _oh my god oh my god oh my god_ ), and Darren sighs. “I guess I was wrong. And I’m sorry if you didn’t want it.”

 

“I did,” Chris says, and  _oh there’s his voice_.

 

Darren looks up as if he can’t believe what Chris just said.

 

“What?”

 

“I wanted it. I just wasn’t sure if you did.”

 

“Of course I wanted it,  _I_  was the one who kissed  _you_ ,” Darren insists, and now both of his hands are in Chris’ and they’re kneeling facing one another.

 

“I thought it was just a game.”

 

“It’s never just a game with you,” Darren whispers. “I got carried away, but only because recently all I can ever  _think_  about is kissing you. You were just so close and so tempting-”

 

“So you knew I was gay,” Chris says, and suddenly, it’s not such a bad thing anymore.

 

“I never thought about whether you were gay, I just wondered whether you liked  _me_.”

 

“But I am. Because I like you.”

 

“Okay,” Darren says, and it is. “I like you too.”

 

And then they’re kissing again, and it’s just about the best thing Chris has ever felt in his entire life. Suspended in darkness, in a fort made out of blankets, a plate of cookies digging into his knee;  _this is Chris’ life_.


End file.
